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Underground Party uses Music and Arts to mobilize Progressives in Orlando Orlando Political Observer Progressives from all over Central Florida were in Orlando on Saturday night for the Contact Music Festival, an underground party that offered multiple stages of musical acts, art exhibits, and classes on political activism aiming to activate ...

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Underground Party uses Music and Arts to mobilize Progressives in Orlando - Orlando Political Observer

The PCCC, MoveOn, Democracy for America, 350.Org, and Presente are making the closing argument supporting Keith Ellison for DNC Chair in an open letter to DNC voting members before tomorrows vote.

As CNN just reported, it highlights the fact that Ellison is the best candidate in the Chair race to connect the DNC to the vibrant resistance energy having earned the trust of grassroots groups representing millions of people:

In a letter to DNC members obtained by CNN, the leaders of five groups at the heart of the political left MoveOn, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, 350 Action and Presente Action argued that only Ellison can bridge the divide between the Democratic establishment and the partys grassroots.

The groups also said theyd be eager to engage directly with the partys infrastructure under Ellisons leadership. It was an implicit rebuke of former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who is in a tight race with Ellison for DNC chair. They continued: If Keith Ellison is DNC chair, we can hit the ground running and because of the pre-existing trust that exists between Keith and the grassroots, every state party would have a head start harnessing the power of the resistance.

The PCCC has been a top Ellison organizing force recently announcing four new voting members for Ellison earlier this week: NH Sen. Martha Fuller-Clark (D-Portsmouth), Sheila Selkregg from Anchorage, AK, Edward Wesley from Anchorage, AK, and Curtis Wylde Wells, a Missouri Democratic Party State Committee member.

We are leaders of organizations representing over 10 million people who are vital to building power at the state level and opposing the Trump agenda nationally.

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Marissa Barrow

Starting today, Trumps corrupt catering to billionaires and Wall Street at the expense of working families will be more visible than ever. It wont be pretty.

Progressives are prepared to foster a historic resistance that merges the power of millions of people taking action with the leadership of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Keith Ellison, and others in Congress.

Elizabeth Warren says, Our agenda is still Americas agenda, fighting for that agenda is more important than ever, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is one of my main partners in the fight. Could you chip in $3 or more so the PCCC is ready for our next big fights with President Trump and the Republican leadership in 2017? Click here.

Weve already seen evidence our resistance works.

The resistance is strong. And growing.

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Progressive Change Campaign Committee

PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor went on C-SPANs Washington Journal on Tuesday to talk aboutthe role of progressives as the general election phase of the presidential campaign begins. During the 45-minute interview, she discussed the relationship between progressives and the Clinton-Kaine ticket: Theres trust there, but its a fragile one.

Take a look:

It was very exciting to see in [Clintons] acceptance speech a litany of issues that progressives have worked very hard on, like expanding Social Security, like debt-free and tuition-free college, opposing unfair trade deals. She really needs to keep the volume high and keep talking about these issues throughout the campaign.

Stephanie also gave this analysis a few hours before Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination on Thursday, July 28, during a POLITICO Hub panelin Philadelphia, including AFSCME president Lee Saunders, Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver, and pollster Mark Penn with POLITICOs Susan Glasser and Glenn Thrush moderating.Click here to watch.

Click here to share on Twitter.

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Posted on August 4, 2016 by Marissa Barrow

On Wednesday, President Obama made huge news by saying for the first time that we must expand Social Security benefits not cut them. This represents a sea change from 2012 when the White House was pushing to cut benefits as part of a grand bargain with Republicans.

THIS IS A GIANT WIN FOR PROGRESSIVES.

And it didnt happen in a vacuum. Three years of activism by PCCC members and progressive allies led to 7 senators, then nearly all Democratic senators, then the majority of House Democrats, and then both Democratic candidates for president supporting expanding not cutting Social Security. And now, a sitting president. Activism matters. Together, we made history.

In 2 weeks, we have an opportunity to etch this victory in stone.Thats when a small committee of 15 Democrats will start writing the 2016 Democratic Platform.

Sign the petition to the platform drafting committee.Tell them to make sure it reflects big progressive ideas that have risen to the forefront in recent years starting with expanding Social Security, and also including debt-free college, breaking up too-big-to-fail banks and monopolies, paid family leave, a $15 min wage, banning for-profit prisons, ending fracking, a carbon tax to fight climate change, restoring voting rights, grand jury reform, public financing of congressional elections, overturning Citizens United, massive infrastructure investment, and ending the revolving door between Wall Street and government.

In 2013, PCCC co-founders Stephanie Taylor and Adam Green met with Elizabeth Warren shortly after her victory. In the course of a wide-ranging conversation, they brought up how hard PCCC members and progressive allies had been fighting against proposed Social Security cuts.

Elizabeth Warren informed the PCCC for the first time that two of her colleagues had bills to expand Social Security benefits. Stephanie and Adam stared at each other in disbelief.

This idea had been written about by progressive thinkers, ranging from Duncan Black to Heather Parton. But now, with legislation from a red-state senator and a senator from the first presidential state of Iowa, there was an opportunity to fundamentally shift the debate.

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Adam Green

HUGECNN HEADLINE:Donald Trump in 2006: I sort of hope real estate market tanks

In 2006, Trump cheered on a housing market crash saying, I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy. If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you know you can make a lot of money.

Last night, Elizabeth Warren gave a speech that is going viral slamming Trump for being a small, insecure money grubber who is in the pocket of Wall Street and looking to con the American people.

(Also share this amazing video on social media! Click here to share it on Facebook and click here to share it on Twitter.)

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Marissa Barrow

The Warren Wing won tonights debate, hands down. For the 4th Democratic debate in a row, key Warren wing priorities of debt-free college, Wall Street accountability, and expanding Social Security benefits were discussed. We are seeing a race to the top on economic populism issues a stark contrast to the extremism, intolerance, and race to the bottom in the Republican primary.

Adam Green, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Marissa Barrow

Tuesday night is President Obamas final State of the Union. We asked allies across the progressive movement what executive actions they would like to see in the presidents final year in addition to any bigger fights he picks with Congress. From disclosing corporate political spending to increasing wages for federal workers, here are 10 concrete progressive actions President Obama could take on his own with a single signature.

We know these can work because the presidents own former communications director said so:

Like and share your favorite!

Debt-Free College:

On Facebook | On Twitter

Wall Street reform:

On Facebook | On Twitter

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Marissa Barrow

Legislators in 10 states nationwide will be introducing debt-free college legislation, making debt-free college a central 2016 campaign issue from the top to bottom of the ticket.

This state-level action will give voters a unified Democratic message going into the 2016 election. All three Democratic presidential candidates have embraced debt-free college, and so have 100 members of Congress.

Progressive organizing has led to all three Democratic presidential candidates embracing debt-free college and 100 members of Congress have endorsing it.

Progressives are unifying the Democratic Party around a bold Elizabeth Warren-style agenda that motivates people to get to the polls and that would be a game changer in millions of lives, said PCCC debt-free college campaign director Kayla Wingbermuehle. The progressive strategy now is to go deep, unifying the Democratic Party around debt-free college and ensuring that theres an undeniable mandate in November of 2016.

Lawmakers include those fromthe First in the Nation states with Rep. Marjorie Porter of New Hampshire, Rep. Chris Hall of Iowa, and Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter of South Carolina, from key battleground states with Rep. Stephanie Howse of Ohio and Rep. Katrina Shankland of Wisconsin, plus Rep. Paul Mark of Massachusetts, Rep. Will Guzzardi of Illinois, Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal of Missouri, Rep. Paula Hawks of South Dakota, and Rep. Kaniela Ing of Hawaii.

Join the call for debt-free college in your state sign the petition at DebtFreeCollegeNOW.com and contact your state legislator to ask them to sign on!

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Marissa Barrow

The PCCC, Democracy for America, and MoveOn.org are asking the Democratic candidates to be bold during the debate in addressing economic populism issues such as debt-free college, expanding Social Security benefits, and Wall Street reform and accountability.

These issues motivate the base in primaries, and candidates need to go bold with an Elizabeth Warren-style agenda to inspire voters. Watch the video and read the letter sent to Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin OMalley below.

Take a look below to see how much progressives have shifted the debate on issues like debt-free college, expand Social Security, and Wall Street accountability. Then share with your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter!

Share on Twitter | Share on Facebook

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Marissa Barrow

Originally posted here:
Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC)

Progressives, as liberals did before Reagan, emphasize doing the most for the most which is how we got socio-economic programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and a minimum wage. Todays liberals favor expanding health insurance company profits over expanding Medicare and strongly support Democratic presidents who undermine the very programs that earlier liberals created such as social welfare and Social Security.

Progressives don't act like prudes, puritans and prigs.

Progressives dont think the commerce clause of the Constitution should be used just because you feel like doing something, such as avoiding single payer health insurance. There is a huge difference between using the commerce clause to guarantee human rights and using it to subsidize health insurance companies.

Progressives recognize the Green Party and its members as part of a broad coalition. Most liberals act as though Greens were a new kind of HIV.

Progressives try to convince people with whom they disagree, not just scold them.

Progressive oppose the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq; liberals like them as long as a Democratic president is running them.

Progressives oppose the war on drugs, Americas most masochistic and deadly battle since Vietnam. Liberals treat it with utter indifference.

Progressives believe what people do is more important than how politely they talk about it.

Progressives don't think you should have to go to grad school to have an important role in government.

Progressives respect state and local government; liberals often act like they're a Republican plot. Progressives understand the importance of the devolution of power to the lowest practical level.

Progressives worry about locked doors, liberals about glass ceilings, which is why liberals thought Obama's election would create a post-racial society.Too many liberals are infatuated with symbolism such as electing a black president, while ignoring the real problems most minorities face in everything from the job market to dealing with the law.

Even progressives who don't own guns respect the right of others who do. Besides, why piss them off the way liberals have done, when they could be allies on a host of other issues, beginning with civil liberties?

But then, progressives still defend civil liberties. Liberals seem to have forgotten about them and ignore Obama's abuse of them.

Progressives pursue issues; liberals support candidates.

Progressives don't give up an issue just because the candidate they voted for is now in office and opposes it.

Liberals love Clinton and Obama while despising the Bushes who preceded them. They dont seem to notice that our government continued to move to the right under both Democrats and that neither repealed any significant policies of their GOP predecessors

Progressives don't think bailing out banks is an economic stimulus, but that helping to create jobs and stop foreclosures is.

Progressives support local public schools and their teachers; liberals go along with the Bush-Obama attack on public education.

Progressives are not afraid of criticizing Israel for its abusive treatment of Palestine. Liberals either support Israel's criminal actions or are afraid of being called anti-Semites so don't say anything.

Progressives have new ideas; liberals come up with new compromises with the right.

Liberals have become an elite demographic while progressives are a populist movement.

Progressives believe that change is produced by broad coalitions brought together on specific issues, but not necessarily agreeing on all policy. Liberals believe change will come when everyone acts like they do.

Read the original here:
How to tell the difference between a progressive and a liberal

The Progressive era changed U.S. society permanently; every aspect of modern American life still shows the impact of the reformers of the era. But what did they want? And why did they want it? The belief of all Progressives - that we really could end all human suffering - was the inspiration for a massive overhaul of American life.

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. The factory workers, most of them immigrants, nearly all women, ran for the doors to exit, only to find them locked from the outside. The workers crowded to the rooftops and on window ledges as fire engines arrived only to find that neither their hoses nor their ladders could reach high enough to help. Many of the workers (60, by one estimate) chose to jump to their deaths rather than face the fire inside.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was one of the worst industrial accidents in U.S. history. The idea that 248 people might die in such a senseless, seemingly preventable way was a matter of outrage for many Americans. Why had the doors been locked? How could this have happened? The calls to action that followed were emblematic of a spirit of reform that had swept across the U.S. around the turn of the century. This movement, 'Progressivism', would go on to fundamentally change the nation, as well as create a permanent shift in what Americans expected from their governments.

As an idea, Progressivism generally refers to the belief that government or people acting on its behalf can be used to address social problems, inequalities, or inequities facing the nation. As a political term, the Progressive Party was born in 1912 in light of this idea.

Whether you were a Progressive only in spirit or a member of the political organization of the same name, you shared several major goals:

Ending corruption - Progressives wanted consumer rights, the ending of monopolies (often called 'trusts,' which called for 'trust-busting'), and clean government.

Efficiency and perfection - Progressives held the belief that we really could eradicate most social failings and problems. At the minimum, if we couldn't end these problems, we could streamline our solutions to provide the most efficient solutions.

There were several policies that had leverage with both Progressives and everyday Americans including:

Child Labor - Prior to the Progressive era, child labor was depressingly common. Factory owners often preferred child workers since they were more manageable (that is, less likely to strike) and cheaper. Children in factories often worked 16-hour days in highly dangerous conditions.

Temperance - Many Progressives were interested in root causes of social problems, the factors they thought that, by removing, they could cure the malady for good. They believed that alcohol addiction was one of the chief problems of the era.

Equal Treatment - The political disenfranchisement of African Americans and women was a major issue for all Progressive groups.

Education - The virtue of public education wasn't just to provide a 'way out' for poor minorities or immigrants, as it's often viewed today. Instead, it was viewed as a civilizing force by Progressives, a social mechanism for creating new, industrious Americans.

Urbanization and Labor Reform - The plight of urban areas was brought to light by reformers who tried to show Americans what their major cities were really like.

Progressives worked hard to bring the social issues they were passionate about to light. Possibly the most impactful Progressive-era reformers were found in the world of journalism. Ida Tarbell was unique on two fronts; she was one of the few female national reporters during this era and she was a groundbreaking investigative journalist, what Theodore Roosevelt termed a 'muckraker'.

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Probably the most famous muckraker was Upton Sinclair, a journalist who used writing to promote his own social and political beliefs. His novel The Jungle was a scathing, unsettling, and disturbing look at the Chicago meat-packing industry. Though Sinclair didn't get the socialist revolution he desired, he did spur the nation to support federal legislation to change the industry, with the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

The Progressive movement lost a great deal of momentum after World War I, but the impact of Progressivism was undeniable:

The Progressive era was born from post-Civil War reform movements like abolition, temperance, and women's suffrage. Appearing around 1890, the movement was inspired by reformers who believed that effort, logic, and efficiency could, in time, cure most of society's ills. Their major targets were labor reform (especially child labor), urbanization, political and commercial corruption, and general improvement of modern life.

Progressives made massive changes to the nation's political system at both the state and federal levels, establishing new tools for popular control of the legislative process and new laws regulating dozens of different industries. Ultimately, the Progressive era faltered after the disaster of World War I, but the long-term impact of their reforms is still present in contemporary American society.

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What is Progressivism? - Definition, History & Goals - Video ...

WASHINGTON Several prominent progressive activists are blasting Democratic National CommitteeChair Tom Perez for shunning leaders of the partys populist wing for his transition advisory committee.

The newly elected party leader named a large number of longtime party insiders to the committee, activists complained, and relatively few progressive leaders and supporters of Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, who was runner-up in the DNC chair race. The activists say the committee appointments show Perezs DNC is not serious about addressing concerns of the partys populist wing.

After looking at that list, it has become abundantly clear that the controlling forces of the Democratic Party want to make the other half of the party suffer, said Nomiki Konst, a convention delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The DNC is not tone-deaf it is on a mission to crush the working side of our party, added Konst, now an investigative reporter for the Young Turks who did not endorse a candidate in the DNC chair race.

Kait Sweeney,a spokeswoman for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which backed Ellisons bid, said in a statement that the initial names on the DNC Transition Advisory Committee include zero leaders of progressive grassroots groups that engage in electoral work and very few movement progressives. She said the group would recommend names for the DNC to add to the committee.

The DNCs 29-person transition advisory committee, whichPerez announced Wednesday, will be co-chaired by Leah Daughtry, a veteran Democratic operative who was CEO of the 2016 Democratic National Convention, and Chris Lu, a former deputy labor secretary who ran the 2008 Obama-Biden transition team.

Other members include former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, racial justice advocate DeRay McKesson and National Domestic Workers Alliances director Ai-Jen Poo. The group also includes defeated DNC chair candidates: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Jehmu Greene, and Idaho Democratic Party Executive Director Sally Boynton Brown. (See the names of all 29 members here.)

Just two people on the committee endorsed Ellison in the DNC chair race: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Brian Weeks, the political director of AFSCME. Of the two, only Jayapal supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2016 presidential primary.

The real absence of Bernie grassroots leadership is unsurprising to me, Winnie Wong, a founder of the People for Bernie Sanders, said in an email. What the DNC doesnt know is that we are both resourceful and well resourced, so well be doing the work: organizing, RECRUITING, knocking on doors, building up our giant email lists and generally running the internet in a way that the Ds could only dream about.

Perez spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa emphasized in a statement that the transition advisory committee is just a start to the broader transition efforts.

Over the weeks to come, Tom Perez and DNC leadership will continue meeting with key stakeholders in our big tent party, including progressive leaders, labor, and experts in various fields to discuss priorities for the DNC, grassroots organizing, reaching key voters who were left behind this last election, and raising the resources needed to succeed, Hinojosa said.

Perez selected committee members with input from other DNC officers, including Ellison,Hinojosa noted.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Progressivespublic disagreement with Perez just weeks after the chair election suggests that the party divisions exposed by the contest remain at least partially unresolved.

The normally sleepy contest to run the partys main body became a brawl for control of the Democratic Party after the November election defeat left partisans scrambling for answers. Many progressive activists who blamed the Democratic establishment for falling out of touch with partys populist, working-class roots rallied behind Ellisons candidacy.

Ellison had a virtual lock on prominent liberals and Sanders supporters, but he was also endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and leading labor unions that backed Hillary Clinton.

Many DNC members who voted for Perez said they liked his experience running large organizations, rather than any policy or ideological considerations. Perez earned stellar marks from progressives for his work in the Obama administration as head of the Department of Justice civil rights division and the Department of Labor.

But some Ellison supporterscould not shake the feeling that elements of the establishment had conspired to stifle the grassroots once again, arguing that the party had been uniting around Ellison until then-President Barack Obama encouraged Perez to run. Senior Obama aides phoned DNC members on the day of the election to lobby them to vote for Perez.

Perez grasped the importance of reconciling with Ellison supporters immediately after he waselected chair by a close margin in late February, using his victory speech to appoint Ellison as his deputy.

The gesture was welcomed by many Ellison supporters.Later, Perez drew further accoladesfrom Ellison supporters for speaking at a White House rally against Trumps travel ban.

But some progressives remain unconvinced.

You cant just brand something unity and not have unity. It is unity in name only, Konst said.

Yasmine Taeb, a Virginia Democratic national committeewoman who invited Perez to the White House rally, took issue with only four elected DNC members on the transition team: Rion Ramirez of Washington; Bel Leong-Hong of Maryland; Luis Heredia of Arizona; and Jenny Wilson of Utah.

That goes to the crux of my frustration with the DNC that traditionally they have ignored the grassroots members, which is half the membership, she said.

Taeb also lamented that a committee so racially diverse did not include a Muslim or person of Middle Eastern heritage, when people from those groupsare under attack by this administration.

Konst singled out the transition committee co-chair Leah Daughtry as an example of the type of entrenched DNC official from whom the party needs to distance itself.As CEO of the Democratic National Convention, Daughtry oversaw the expulsion of restive Sanders supporters from the convention hall, according to Konst.

Even Perezs selection of DeRay McKesson, a former Baltimore school district worker known for criminal justice reform work, has drawn criticism. Activists have derided McKessons ties to controversial causes and corporations, including his participation in a panel discussion sponsored by Wells Fargo.

Some Ellison backers acknowledged Perez has discretion to name the committee picks and said there were more substantive fights for activists.

Its solely a personal list for Toms advice so he obviously named people who he was close to, said Larry Cohen, a DNC member from Washington, D.C., and chairman of Our Revolution, the successor organization to Sanders campaign.

Nebraska Democratic Party chair Jane Kleeb, who serves on the Our Revolution board with Cohen, took a similar view.She added: If I was in Perezs shoes, I probably would have appointed a couple more obvious Bernie people just for the sake of keeping the peace.

Another major test of the partys commitment to reform will be in the power it gives to the forthcoming Unity Reform Commission, according to Kleeb and Cohen. The 21-member panel the product of a last-minute compromise to mollify Sanders supporters prior to the Democratic National Convention is charged with studying ways to increase party accountability and reform the presidential nominating process through measures like abolishing the super-delegates.

Kleeb and Konst are among the seven commissioners appointed by Sanders, who also named Cohen a co-chair. Clinton gets to name nine members of the panel, plus a co-chair. Perez will name the remaining three. Aside from Clintons appointment of the commission chair, Jen OMalley Dillon, neither Clinton nor Perez has announced their nominees.

The unity reform commission is the statutory body of the party to look at structural reform. Having met with Tom about that, Im confident that he fully supports his role, Cohen said.

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Progressives Slam Tom Perez's New DNC Transition Team - Huffington Post